(1 of )Sonoma State University. (COURTESY PHOTO)

Sonoma State University is now considered a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a federal designation that makes the university eligible for millions of dollars in grants.

To qualify for the status, the university’s population must be at least 25 percent Latino. At SSU, one of 21 schools in the CSU system to achieve the designation, 33 percent of the university’s 8,600 undergraduates are Latino, according to a news release.

The designation is part of a larger effort by President Judy Sakaki to better serve the school’s Latino community, and comes on the heels of an announcement that the university is now partnering with TheDream.US, the nation’s largest scholarship program for undocumented students.

Just two campuses in the CSU system still have yet to receive the Hispanic-Serving Institution designation: Maritime and San Luis Obispo.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.